When it’s summer and it’s hot and you want cookies, you have a few options: 1) Turn on your oven for baking and risk your kitchen turning into the sweltering 10th circle of hell, 2) pick some up at the store or bakery but know that they’ll contain ingredients like “hydrogenated oil” or “three cups of sugar,” or 3) keep your cool (and your cash) by whipping up affordable, healthy, no-bake cookies at home.
Guess which option we recommend. Here are 21 no-bake cookie recipes so you can satisfy your cookie cravings all summer—and, really, all year—long without so much as breaking a sweat.
1. No-Bake Vegan Samoas
Don’t wait all year for those Girl Scouts cookie sales—make your own at home. With a date and oat base and peanut butter powder in the coconut filling, they’re just as fudgy as the original kind, but with slightly lighter ingredients.
2. 5-Minute No-Bake Almond Joy Cookies
These chocolate almond bites are chilled in muffin tins to give them that cup-like shape. They look decadent, but almond butter and oats keep them wholesome, and believe it or not, there are just three tablespoons of added sweetener in the entire recipe.
3. Healthy No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
It’s not a cookie roundup without a recipe for oatmeal raisin! While their name implies that they’re healthy, most bakery and store-bought versions have way too much butter and sugar in them. These go for a touch of coconut oil and almond butter for healthy fats, and banana and maple syrup for sweetness, so they’re actually as healthy as they sound.
4. No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Nests
These cookies were originally created as an Easter treat, but you could just shape them into regular cookie form and they’d be appropriate for any time of year—and trust us, with all the peanut buttery, coconut-y, chocolaty goodness in each serving, you’ll want to have these on hand practically every day of the week.
5. Healthy No-Bake Unicorn Cookies
Just two tablespoons of rainbow sprinkles give these four-ingredient cookies their unicorn-y colors. With cashew butter and coconut flour making up a bulk of the cookie base, they’ve also got a good amount of protein.
6. No-Bake Chocolate-Dipped Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate and gingerbread may seem like an unlikely combo, but these chewy cookies show how delicious the two can be together. If you don’t feel like setting up a double boiler situation in your kitchen, gently microwave your chocolate chips until they’re melted enough for dipping.
7. Healthy No-Bake Maple Cookies
This recipe does require a bit of stovetop work, but just for 10 minutes. It’s well worth it too. When melted together, the banana, maple syrup, and almond butter form a gooey, sticky layer that’s perfect for the oats to hold on to.
8. No-Bake “PB & J” Thumbprint Cookies
These morsels rely on sunflower seed butter to give them their fudgy base, so they’re totally safe for anyone who can’t go the peanut butter route. The recipe uses a homemade jam for the thumbprints but feel free to go for a lower-sugar, store-bought kind for convenience.
9. No-Bake Pineapple Coconut Cookies
Too hot to make a pineapple upside-down cake? Go for these cookies instead. With walnuts, dried pineapple, and coconut flakes, they taste just like the baked dessert, but with some unique extras such as cornflakes for crunch and white chocolate chips for a bit of fun.
10. 5-Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
Classic cornflakes clusters get a healthified twist with unrefined sweeteners such as coconut sugar and maple syrup instead of corn syrup. Plenty of gooey peanut butter helps them keep that signature, chewy texture. It’s like biting into childhood.
11. No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies
Can’t be trusted around cookies?Don’t deprive yourself completely; just whip up a small batch. This recipe not only yields just six chocolaty cookies, but with ingredients such as banana and chia, you could technically get away with eating them all.
12. Sweet Potato No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies
Don’t be weirded out by the potato in the batter; it’s there to add texture and sweetness. But once the cookies are chilled and ready to eat, you’ll hardly taste it. Plus, it keeps them vegan, Paleo, and dairy-free.
13. Almond Butter-Stuffed Raweos
Who didn’t love dunking an Oreo into a chilled glass of milk as a kid? If you grew up but your cravings for that childhood snack didn’t, these healthier, no-bake cookies satisfy them a healthier way. The cookie portion is made with dates and oats, while the “cream” inside is replaced with plain old yummy almond butter. The best part? These still go great with milk (dairy or otherwise).
14. No-Bake Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
With dates, nuts, and oats, these cookies are just like little energy bites. Juice from four whole lemons give them a refreshing tang, while the white-chocolate thumbprints give them the perfect touch of indulgence.
15. No-Bake Oatmeal Raspberry Sandwich Cookies
You don’t even have to turn on the stove to make the simple raspberry filling for these delicious sweet sandwiches. Just combine the fresh berries with coconut butter in a food processor until the mixture is smooth. Slathered between cookies made from gluten-free oats and dates, they’re a perfect combo of rich and fruity.
16. No-Bake Breakfast Cookies
Enjoy these cookies any time of day, but the oats, chia seeds, and peanut butter are wholesome and satisfying enough to make them suitable for breakfast. In fact, if you look at the ingredient list, they read like a filling bowl of oatmeal, just in cookie form.
17. No-Bake Apple Cinnamon Cookies
No artificial flavorings here: With unsweetened applesauce and real ground cinnamon, the fruity, spicy goodness of these cookies is all natural. Sprinkle some coconut sugar on top for a sweet, sparkly finish.
18. No-Bake Carrot Cake Cookies
Carrot cake is delicious, but it’s a real process (shredding the carrots, mixing the icing, etc.). This no-bake carrot cake recipe does away with the time commitment and the inconvenience (oh, and the grains) by dumping all its ingredients, whole carrots and all, in the food processor. Pulsed and shaped into cookies, they take all of five minutes to put together.
19. Chocolate Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies
Got leftover cooked quinoa on hand but really don’t feel like turning it into yet another grain bowl? Make it into a dessert instead. A cup and a half of the high-protein superfood goes into these cookies. You’ll be surprised at how well it soaks up the cocoa powder and peanut butter flavors.
20. No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Protein Cookies
Make your cookie break count by powering the treats up with quality protein powder. You’ll get another layer of chocolaty flavor along with the chocolate chips, and the extra fuel means you won’t be hungry again 20 minutes later.
21. No-Bake Paleo Pumpkin Cookies
These cookies have all the classic fall spices in them—think nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon—but that doesn’t mean they’re not perfect for summer too. They’re easy, light, and taste perfect straight out of the refrigerator on a hot day.
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